Bits and pieces of my life. I am a lifelong Christian. I have been married for over 41 years to Stan. No children. We have 1 Chihuahua, Christopher Robin, and 2 calico cats named Capt. Fishipants (a rare MALE calico) and Daphne Doolittle. We have 9 nieces/nephews and 10 grandnieces/nephews whom we love. My hobbies are genealogy, reading, digital scrapbooking, history, dogs, homemaking. This is a personal blog, not a business. I share what interests me I am not selling or making a profit.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Erwin McCoy Conner was born between 1839-1840 in Rutherford County, NC to Isaac Jackson Conner (DOB 1817-1820 in Rutherford County, NC; DOD After 1871 in Rutherford County, NC) and Adaline Thomason (DOB 1816-1826 in Rutherford County, NC; DOD After 1870 in Rutherford County, NC). Erwin McCoy Conner was the 2nd of 8 children. He had an older brother named James Conner. James was born about 1835 in Rutherford County, NC. He was with the family in the 1850 U.S. Census but I found no further record of him after that. It's possible he died before the War of Northern Aggression. It's also possible that he fought. Although there are some possibilities in the rosters of Confederate soldiers, none could be shown as definitively him.

4) Thomas Conner (DOB About 1847 in Rutherford County, NC; DOD ? in ? ) married Sarah A. ? (DOB About 1850 in Rutherford County, NC; DOD ? in ? ). They had one son that I know of named Joseph Conner (DOB About 1869 in Rutherford County, NC; DOD ? in ? ). I was able to follow him in the 1850, 1860 and 1870 U.S. Censuses but found no further record of this family after 1870.

6) William M. Conner (DOB About 1850 in Rutherford County, NC; DOD ? in ? ) married Mary A. Nix (DOB About 1853 in Rutherford County, NC; DOD ? in ? ). They had 5 children that I am aware of: James Cletus Conner, Virgil C. Conner, Francis M. Henry Baxter Robert Conner, Samuel Conner and Thomas Edgar Conner. I was able to follow this family through 1860, 1870, 1880 U.S. Censuses but lost them after that. I was only able to find James Cletus Conner and his family until he died, Francis M. Henry Baxter Robert Conner until the 1910 U.S. Census (he must have died between 1910-1920 as his children are living with others in 1920) and Thomas Edgar Conner until his death. I couldn't find the other children or their parents after the 1880 U.S. Census.

7) Emily Conner (DOB ABout 1852 in Rutherford County, NC; DOD ? in ? ) married ?. I was only able to find her in the 1860 and 1870 U.S. Census. I couldn't find a marriage record of her.

8) Ursilla Conner (aka Lucilla Conner Wilson)(DOB About 1855 in Rutherford County, NC; DOD ? in ? ) married Jonathon Wilson (DOB About 1852 in NC; DOD 4/9/1935 in Forest City, Rutherford County, NC). They were married 2/24/1875 in Rutherford County, NC. I found no further record of Ursilla after their marriage. I believe Jonathon Wilson remarried to Elizabeth "Lizzie" Dalton on 5/16/1877 in Rutherford County, NC. If that marriage record is the same Jonathon Wilson, then Ursilla died between 1875-1877.

McCoy Conner married Mary A. between the 1850 and 1860 U.S. Censuses. Mary was born 1834-1836 in Henderson County, NC to unknown parents. You see, two of their sons have their mother with different names on their death certificate. Mack Coy Conner has his mother as Mary A. Rhodes and William Washington Conner's death certificate has his mother as Mary A. Williams. If her maiden name was Mary Rhodes than there is a possibility that her parents were a Chapman Rhodes and Cynthia Coggswell. But I don't know and I don't know who her parents could be if she was a Williams.

If you do the math, Eli Grady Conner cannot be Mary A. Rhodes/Williams and Ervin McCoy Conner's son. Eli Grady Conner was born in 1867 about 5 years after Ervin McCoy Conner had died. But in the 1870, 1880 Censuses he is living with her and in the 1900 Census she is living with him and his family and is listed as his mother. I have been told that she was engaged to a man but he was also killed during the War and Grady Eli Conner was his son. The man's last name may have been "Pryor" or "Payne". I have not verified this so take it with a grain of salt until you find proof. Here is Grady Eli Connor's death certificate:

DOD 8/29/1935. Physician attended deceased from 4/1935 to 8/1935 and last saw him alive on 8/25/1935. Death occurred at 10:30pm

Cause of death: Pulmonary Tuberculosis (duration since 1933)

Contributory cause: adenomatous goiter (duration about 10-15 yrs ago)

Burial: 8/31/1935 at Flint Hill Cemetery

Undertaker: O.C. Rector, Marshall, NC

I haven't been able to find this John Conner and Rhoda Roach yet. There are only 2 explanations for the relationship between Eli and Mary A. Rhodes Conner....1) He was illegitimate and his death certificate is incorrect (I have definitely seen that before), or 2) He was adopted by her after his parents died and they considered each other as mother and son. I have had contact with a descendant from the General Vance Conner (son of Grady Eli Conner and Dosha Thula Lankford) family and she supported the story that Eli is an illegitimate son of Mary's. It seems she met a man named Pryor or Payne and was going to marry him but he was killed at the end of the War too and she was pregnant when he died. She honored this son, Grady Eli Conner, with her husband's last name. My source said that this was not a secret within the immediate family and Eli was treated as a Conner all his life. Which speaks highly of the Conner family. Eli knew of his parentage and his mother told him that she was fortunate to have known love in her lifetime. I still don't know why his death certificate had the wrong parents listed.

I did notice that in 1870 all 4 siblings are living with Mary A. Rhodes Conner. They were young. But in the 1880 Census only Minerva and little Eli are living with Mary A. Rhodes Conner although McCoy and Washington Conner are only 19 and 20 years old and are unmarried (they both married in 1885). Why would they leave their mother, sister and young brother during such hard times? I found McCoy Conner living with a Reeder family in Madison County, NC (where he settled until the day he died). I found Washington Conner living with the Hendersons in Madison County, NC just 2 houses away from where McCoy Conner was living with the Reeders. He also lived in Madison County, NC until he died. An illegitimate child might have made the children of McCoy angry with Mary and Eli. Or is it possible that they were making wages somewhere else and sending money home? And in the 1900 Census, Mary A. Rhodes Conner is living with Eli as his "Mother" and she lists that she only has 1 child and 1 child still living. What about her other 3 children by Ervin McCoy Conner? This could be a census taker's mistake or some confusion on his part. Or does it indicate a rift? Evidently Mary did visit the younger McCoy Conner and his family because my Great Grandmother Lily remembers her coming to visit.

According to Erwin McCoy Conner's granddaughter, Lillian Vianna Conner Reese, Erwin McCoy Conner had a farm when the War of Northern Aggression started. He left his farm, livestock, home, and family to fight and never returned. She said he died of "fever".

He was a Private in the C.S.A. NC's 25th Infantry Regiment, Co. A. The 25th Infantry Regiment, formerly the 15th Volunteers, was assembled at Camp Patton, Asheville, North Carolina, in August, 1861. The following counties furnished companies for the regiment: Henderson, Jackson, Haywood, Cherokee, Transylvania, Clay, Macon, and Buncombe. It moved to Grahamville, South Carolina and remained there until March, 1862. The unit then moved back to North Carolina and arrived in Virginia on June 24. Serving in R. Ransom's and M.W. Ranson's Brigade, it fought with the army from the Seven Day's Battles to Fredericksburg, served in North Carolina, then saw action at Plymouth and Drewery's Bluff. Later the 25th participated in the long Petersburg siege south of the James River and the Appomattox Campaign. It reported 128 casualties during the Seven Days' Battles, 15 in the Maryland Campaign, 88 at Fredericksburg, and 103 at Plymouth. Many were disabled at Sayler's Creek, and on April 9, 1865, only 8 officers and 69 were present. The field officers were Colonels Thomas L. Clingman and Henry M. Rutledge; Lieutenant Colonels S.C. Bryson, St. Clair Dearing, and Matthew N. Love; and Majors John W. Francis, William S. Grady, and William Y. Morgan.

Erwin McCoy Conner was present and accounted for until he died 7/4/1862 in the Wilson Hospital Confederate Military No. 2, 401 Goldsboro Street South, Wilson, Wilson, NC. Built originally as the Wilson Female Seminary, the Italianate structure served as a Confederate hospital during the Civil War. After the war was over, 101 men who had died in the hospital and were interred locally were removed to the Maplewood Cemetery. In 1872, it became known as Wilson Collegiate Institute. It seems that it was divided up and made into 4 houses in 1898. On Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 11 am, there was an unveiling of the Civil War Trails marker for the Wilson Confederate Military Hospital Museum. It is located on 401 Goldsboro St. N. Wilson, NC 27893.

Department of Cultural Resources:
The Confederacy organized its Medical Department late in 1861 and within months, in April of 1862, the North Carolina General Military Hospital No. 2 was established in Wilson in what had once been the Wilson Female Seminary. Dr. Solomon Sampson Satchwell, who had graduated from Wake Forest College and studied medicine at New York University before serving as a military surgeon with the NC 25th Infantry, was appointed Surgeon-in-Charge. In the 1864 Confederate States Medical and Surgical Journal the Wilson hospital was listed as one of twenty-one principal hospitals in North Carolina. It served those wounded in fighting along the coast. Wilson's location on the busy Wilmington and Weldon Railroad made it a good place for a military hospital. On April 2, 1862, Confederate authorities seized the Wilson Female Academy building for that use. The 40 classrooms were turned into wards where soldiers were treated for wounds and disease. Many of the dead from the hospital were buried in nearby Maplewood Cemetery. The building here is the only surviving portion of the Academy.

Marker Text:"Confederate. Headed by Dr. S. S. Satchwell in building of the Wilson Female Seminary, which was chartered in 1859. Stood 1 1/2 blocks S.E."

The hospital made Wilson known outside of the state of North Carolina. Employing thirty-five to forty people, it also boosted the local economy. Most nurses and orderlies were unskilled soldiers; however, at least seven local women were known to have worked at the hospital as matrons. Their duties included food preparation and cleaning. The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad that ran through Wilson provided the military hospital with supplies, including ice and turpentine, used to treat fevers.

Fighting never broke out in Wilson, but, on July 20, 1863, “an immense armament of negroes and Yankees” advanced on Wilson. Reportedly, a group of invalids from the hospital and local militia defended Wilson by destroying the bridge over the Toisnot Swamp to halt the invaders. All of those who died at the hospital were buried in a mass grave. The hospital closed at the end of the war. When Wilson created a town cemetery, they were re-interred there with a Confederate monument erected over the site. Wilson Female Seminary reopened in the former hospital and received a charter as Wilson Collegiate Institute in 1872.

References:
Confederate States Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 1, no. 10 (1864)
History of Wilson County and its Families (1985)
Patrick Valentine, The Rise of a Southern Town: Wilson, North Carolina (2002)
William S. Powell, ed., Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, V, 284—sketch by W. Conard Gass

American Civil War SoldiersMcCoy Conner, Confederacy, Enlisted in Henderson County, NC as Private on 3/14/1862 at age 22, Died on 7/4/1862 at Hospital, Wilson, Sources 16

U.S. Civil War Soldiers Records and ProfilesMcCoy Conner, Residence: Henderson County, NC, Enlisted 3/14/862 at 22 yrs old as Private, Did not survive the War, DOB about 1840, Mustered out on 7/4/1862 in Hospital at Wilson.
Name: McCoy Conner
Residence: Henderson County, North Carolina, North Carolina
Age at Enlistment: 22
Enlistment Date: 14 Mar 1862
Rank at enlistment: Private
Enlistment Place: Henderson County, North Carolina
State Served: North Carolina
Survived the War?: No
Service Record: Enlisted in Company A, North Carolina 25th Infantry Regiment on 14 Mar 1862. Mustered out on 04 Jul 1862 at Hosp, Wilson.
Birth Date: abt 1840
Sources: North Carolina Troops 1861-65, A Roster

HendersonHeritage.com
18. Conner, Francis M. died of wounds in a hospital outside of Petersburg, Va. The exact date of his death was not reported. He was transferred to the hospital (most likely at Richmond) on 6-18-1864. He was wounded 6-17-1864 at Meade’s Assaults (Second Battle of Petersburg) during the Siege of Petersburg. (Petersburg National Battlefield)
...
Died in War of Disease
19. Conner, Alexander died of disease 3-22-1862 at Grahamville, S.C.
...
Died during the War of Unspecified Causes
5. Conner, McCoy died 7-4-1862 in Wilson, N.C.
6. Conner, Robert J. died 4-22-1862 in Kinston, N.C. He was possibly wounded at the Battle of South Mills on 4-19-1862 in Camden County, N.C.
...

1880 U.S. Census of Edneyville, Henderson County, NC, Roll T9_967, Family History Film 1254967, Pg 237.4000; ED 95, Image 0468, Ancestry.com, House #14350987, "Mary Cormer" (sic, should be Mary Conner), Ancestry.com had her indexed but the "original image" attached to the record was incorrect. I had to go to HeritageQuest.com and found her there at Series T9, Roll 967, Pg 239, ED 95, Lines 24-26 (all the same references as Ancestry.com but the wrong original image attached to that reference)Mary Cormer (sic, should be Mary Conner), F(emale), W(hite), 44 yrs old (DOB 1836), Widowed, Keeping House, Born in NC, Father born in NC, Mother born in NCLou M. Cormer (sic, Minerva Louisa Conner), F, W, 21 yrs old (DOB 1859), Daughter, Single, Born in NC, Father born in NC, Mother born in NCEli Cormer (sic, Eli Conner), M, W, 13 yrs old (DOB 1867), Son, Farm hand, Attends school, Born in NC, Father born in NC, Mother born in NC

1900 U.S. Census of Fairview, Buncombe County, NC, Roll T623_1184, Pg 4B, ED 144, Ancestry.com, Lines 85-90, Dwelling 78, Family 72, "Elie Conner" (sic)Elie Conner (sic, should be Eli), Head, W(hite), M(ale), Born June 1867, 32 yrs old, Married 1 yrs, Born in NC, Father born in NC, Mother born in NC, Farmer, Can read & write, Rents farmKarthula T. Conner (sic, should be Darthula T. Conner), Wife, W, F, Born Dec, 1885, 26 yrs old, Married 1 yrs, 0 children, Born in NC, Father born in NC, Mother born in NCMaud L. Conner, Daughter, W, F, Born Sept, 1892, 8 yrs old, Born in NC, Father born in NC, Mother born in NCJeray Conner (sic, should be Leroy), Son, W, M, Born Jan, 1893, 7 yrs old, born in NC, Father born in NC, Mother born in NCHector E. Conner (sic, Doctor E. Conner) Son, W, M, Born June, 1897, 2 yrs old, Born in NC, Father born in NC, Mother born in NCMary A. Conner, Mother, W, F, Born unknown, unknown age, Widow, 1 child, 1 still living, Born in NC, Father born in NC, Mother born in NC